Information Display Apparatus and Information Display Method

ABSTRACT

The information display part displays screen information for notifying the user that the electronic mail has been received when the portable terminal device has received the electronic mail while first screen information is displayed, in addition to the first screen information or instead of the first screen information, and continues to display second screen information when the portable terminal device has received the electronic mail while the second screen information is displayed, without displaying the screen information for notifying the user that the electronic mail has been received, and displays the screen information for notifying the user that electronic mail has been received after display of the second screen information is finished.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.15/367,446, filed Dec. 2, 2016, which is a continuation of U.S.application Ser. No. 14/242,468, filed Apr. 1, 2014, now U.S. Pat. No.9,544,410, issued Jan. 10, 2017, which claims priority from JapanesePatent Application No. 2013-076692, filed Apr. 2, 2013, the disclosuresof which are expressly incorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an information display apparatus and aninformation display method.

In Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2005-1533, there isdescribed as an object of the invention that “In a car navigation device1, a risk when a driver is notified of email incoming can be decreased”and is described as solution means of the invention that “In the carnavigation device 1 configured to notify a driver of email incoming,information relating to a traveling speed of the vehicle is retrieved(Step 315), and, based on the retrieved information, when the travelingspeed of the vehicle is greater than a predetermined speed, notifyingthe driver of email incoming is prohibited (Step 320)”.

In Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2005-1533, because apredetermined screen is displayed on a display apparatus when thevehicle is stopped, the user can know that electronic mail has beenreceived by viewing the predetermined screen. However, for example, whenthe vehicle approaches an intersection, the display apparatus maydisplay a screen indicating a direction to travel. When the displayapparatus displays the screen informing that electronic mail has beenreceived even in this case, it is not always preferred because the usercannot check or can hardly check the screen indicating a direction forthe vehicle to travel. In other words, priority of information for theuser changes in accordance with a situation where the user is placed,but this point is not considered in Japanese Patent Laid-openPublication No. 2005-1533.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of this, it is an object of the present invention to provide aninformation display apparatus and an information display method that caninform the user at an appropriate timing that electronic mail has beenreceived.

In order to solve the problem described above, according to oneembodiment of the present invention, there is provided an informationdisplay apparatus, including: an information display part, whichdisplays various information; and a communication part, which performsone of wireless communication and wired communication to/from a portableterminal device, in which the information display part is configured to:display screen information for notifying a user that electronic mail hasbeen received when the portable terminal device has received theelectronic mail while first screen information is displayed, one of inaddition to the first screen information and instead of the first screeninformation; and continue to display second screen information when theportable terminal device has received the electronic mail while thesecond screen information is displayed, without displaying the screeninformation for notifying the user that the electronic mail has beenreceived, and display the screen information for notifying the user thatthe electronic mail has been received after display of the second screeninformation is finished.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, it is possible toinform the user at an appropriate timing that electronic mail has beenreceived.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of anin-vehicle system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of anavigation apparatus according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of a portableterminal device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a functional block of the navigationapparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a functional block of the portableterminal device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating mail reception notification restrictioninformation according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating screen information according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating status information according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a mail reception notification processaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a screen example according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a screen example according to anembodiment of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Now, exemplary embodiments of the present invention are described withreference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a schematic configurationof an in-vehicle system 1000 according to a first embodiment of thepresent invention. The in-vehicle system 1000 includes a navigationapparatus 100 and a portable terminal device 200. The navigationapparatus 100 is an information display apparatus having a so-callednavigation function such as route search, route guidance, and trafficinformation provision. In addition, the portable terminal device 200 isa portable information processing terminal such as a smart phone, acellular phone, or a personal digital assistant (PDA).

The navigation apparatus 100 is connected to an in-vehicle speaker 300and various devices mounted in the vehicle via an in-vehicle network(for example, a controller area network (CAN)) 70, so as to communicatewith these devices. In addition, the navigation apparatus 100communicates with the portable terminal device 200 by short distancewireless communication 80 using Bluetooth (registered trademark), forexample.

In addition, the navigation apparatus 100 provides a hands-free functionto the portable terminal device 200 connected in a communicable mannervia Bluetooth. Further, the navigation apparatus 100 outputs informationon voice of the person on the other end acquired from the portableterminal device 200 by the hands-free function from the in-vehiclespeaker 300 via the CAN 70.

In addition, when the portable terminal device 200 connected in acommunicable manner via Bluetooth receives electronic mail, thenavigation apparatus 100 displays the reception notification on adisplay.

The portable terminal device 200 transmits and receives electronic mailto and from a mail server 400 using wireless communication 85 via anetwork 90 such as the Internet. In addition, the portable terminaldevice 200 performs a predetermined communication to/from the navigationapparatus 100 connected via Bluetooth.

[Hardware Configuration of Navigation Apparatus 100]

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configurationof the navigation apparatus 100. The navigation apparatus 100 includes aprocessing unit 11, a display 17, a storage device 18, a soundinput/output device 20 (including a microphone 21 as a sound inputdevice and a speaker 22 as a sound output device), an input device 23, aROM device 27, a vehicle speed sensor 28, a gyro sensor 29, a globalpositioning system (GPS) reception device 30, an FM multiplex broadcastreception device 31, a beacon reception device 32, a BT module 33, and acommunication part 34.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the processing unit 11 has a configuration, inwhich individual devices are connected with each other via a bus 16. Theprocessing unit 11 includes a central processing unit (CPU) 12 forexecuting various processes such as numeric operation and control of thedevices, a random access memory (RAM) 13 for storing map information 19read out from the storage device 18, a result of operation, and thelike, a read only memory (ROM) 14 for storing programs and data, and aninterface (I/F) 15 for connecting various hardware with the processingunit 11.

The processing unit 11 is a core unit for performing various processes.The processing unit 11 detects current position, for example, based oninformation output from various sensors, the GPS reception device 30,the FM multiplex broadcast reception device 31, and the like. Inaddition, the processing unit 11 reads out the map information 19necessary for a display from the storage device 18 or the ROM device 27based on the obtained current position information. In addition, theprocessing unit 11 performs graphics expansion of the read mapinformation 19, on which a mark indicating the current position issuperimposed, and outputs a signal for display on the display 17.

In addition, the processing unit 11 uses the map information 19 and thelike stored in the storage device 18 or the ROM device 27 so as tosearch for routes from a start position (or the current position) to adestination, and to specify a recommended route. In addition, theprocessing unit 11 outputs a predetermined signal to the in-vehiclespeaker 300 and the display 17 for route guidance. More specifically,for example, the processing unit 11 determines whether or not thecurrent position is within a predetermined distance (for example, 100 mto 200 m) to an intersection to turn right or left (hereinafter referredto as a right/left turning intersection) based on the recommended route.When the current position is within the predetermined distance to theright/left turning intersection, the processing unit 11 outputs to thedisplay 17 screen information indicating a direction for the vehicle totravel and an enlarged map of the intersection (hereinafter referred toas “enlarged intersection screen”) together with or instead of thescreen information indicating a map around the current position.Further, when the vehicle passes the right/left turning intersection,the processing unit 11 finishes the display of the enlarged intersectionscreen. In this way, the processing unit 11 executes a predeterminedguidance such as the display of the enlarged screen information andoutput of sound when the vehicle approaches a predetermined point thatneeds a guidance.

The display 17 is a unit for displaying the screen information, andincludes a liquid crystal display, an organic EL display, or the like.

The storage device 18 includes a storage medium, which is capable of atleast reading and writing, such as a hard disk drive (HDD) or anonvolatile memory card. The storage device 18 stores the mapinformation 19 and the like, for example.

The sound input/output device 20 includes the microphone 21 as the soundinput device and the speaker 22 as the sound output device. Themicrophone 21 obtains sound such as user's voice outside the navigationapparatus 100. The speaker 22 outputs predetermined voice information.

The input device 23 is a device for receiving an instruction from theuser. The input device 23 includes a direction key 24, a dial switch 25,a touch panel 26, and other hardware switches (not shown). For instance,the input device 23 receives an instruction concerning a destinationdesired by the user.

The ROM device 27 includes a storage medium, which is capable at leastreading, such as a ROM including a CD-ROM and a DVD-ROM, or anintegrated circuit (IC) card. The storage medium stores moving imageinformation, voice information, and the like, for example.

The vehicle speed sensor 28, the gyro sensor 29, and the GPS receptiondevice 30 are used for detecting the current position by the navigationapparatus 100. The vehicle speed sensor 28 is a sensor that outputs avalue used for calculating vehicle speed. The gyro sensor 29 includes anoptical fiber gyro, an oscillation gyro, or the like, and detectsangular velocity due to rotation of a moving body. The GPS receptiondevice 30 receives signals from GPS satellites and measures a distancebetween the moving body and the GPS satellite as well as a rate ofchange of the distance for three or more satellites, so as to measurethe current position of the moving body, traveling speed thereof, andtraveling direction thereof.

The FM multiplex broadcast reception device 31 receives FM multiplexbroadcast signals transmitted from FM broadcast stations. As the FMmultiplex broadcasts, there are general current traffic information,restriction information, service area/parking area (SA/PA) information,parking lot information, and weather information, such as vehicleinformation communication system (VICS, registered trademark)information, and text information provided by radio stations as FMmultiplex general information.

The beacon reception device 32 receives the general current trafficinformation, the restriction information, the service area/parking area(SA/PA) information, the parking lot information, and the weatherinformation, such as the VICS information, emergency warning, and thelike. For instance, the beacon reception device 32 is a reception devicesuch as an optical beacon for communicating by light, a radio wavebeacon for communicating by radio wave, or the like.

The BT module 33 is a module for performing short distance wirelesscommunication via Bluetooth. The BT module 33 has a wirelesscommunication antenna mounted thereon and has profiles for realizingpredetermined functions such as a hands-free function, an audioreproduction function, and the like mounted thereon.

The communication part 34 is a device for performing a predeterminedcommunication to/from external devices (for example, a server or thelike) via a network. In addition, the communication part 34 performsvarious information communication to/from individual devices mounted inthe vehicle via the CAN 70, for example. Further, as the devices mountedin the vehicle, there are the in-vehicle speaker 300 that outputs soundsin the vehicle, an in-vehicle camera (not shown) capable of takingimages around the vehicle (for example, rear view of the vehicle), andthe like. The communication part 34 is capable of transmitting a soundsignal to the in-vehicle speaker 300, and receiving an image signalshowing the image taken by the in-vehicle camera. Further, thenavigation apparatus 100 may receive the image signal from thein-vehicle camera without using the CAN 70.

[Hardware Configuration of Portable Terminal Device 200]

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configurationof the portable terminal device 200. As illustrated in FIG. 3, theportable terminal device 200 includes a CPU 201 as a processing unit,memories such as a RAM 202 and a ROM 203, a communication part 204 forcommunicating with other devices (for example, the mail server 400 andthe like) via the network 90, a BT module 205 for performing shortdistance wireless communication to/from the navigation apparatus 100 viaBluetooth, a microphone 206 for acquiring caller's voice, and a speaker207 for outputting voice of a person on the other end. Further, becausethe BT module 205 has the same function as that in the navigationapparatus 100, description thereof is omitted.

[Functional Block of Navigation Apparatus 100]

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a functional block of thenavigation apparatus 100. The navigation apparatus 100 includes ageneral control part 51, a display control part 52, a storage part 53, aBT connection part 54, a transmission/reception part 55, a hands-freefunction part 56, a status management part 57, a notificationrestriction determination part 58, and a voice information generationpart 59.

The general control part 51 is a core functional part for controllingthe entire function of the navigation apparatus 100. Specifically, thegeneral control part 51 receives a user's input instruction via themicrophone 21, the touch panel 26, and the dial switch 25 of thenavigation apparatus 100, and outputs an execution instruction to apredetermined functional part. In addition, the general control part 51imparts information acquired from other devices (for example, thestorage device 18, the sound input/output device 20, and the like)embedded in the navigation apparatus 100, sensors (for example, thevehicle speed sensor 28, the gyro sensor 29, and the like), and externaldevices (for example, the portable terminal device 200) to the otherdevices, the sensors, and the functional parts.

The display control part 52 is a functional part for controlling screensto be displayed on the display 17 of the navigation apparatus 100.Specifically, the display control part 52 acquires screen information ofa menu screen, a map screen, an audio screen, and the like, requested inaccordance with a process in the navigation apparatus 100 from thestorage part 53 so as to display the screen on the display 17. Inaddition, the display control part 52 displays an image screen taken bythe in-vehicle camera on the display 17 in accordance with aninstruction from the general control part 51. Further, the displaycontrol part 52 distinguishes a screen category of the image screen as a“camera image screen”. The “camera image screen” is also an example ofthe screen information. The screen category is described later.

In addition, the display control part 52 displays on the display 17 apop-up dialog, which includes a message notifying that the portableterminal device 200 has received electronic mail, for receiving from theuser an instruction of whether or not to read out the text of theelectronic mail, in accordance with an instruction from the notificationrestriction determination part 58.

Further, when the display control part 52 displays the pop-up dialog onthe display 17, the general control part 51 acquires voice informationof the message included in the dialog from the storage part 53 andoutputs the voice information to the in-vehicle speaker 300.

The storage part 53 is a functional part for storing predeterminedinformation. Specifically, the storage part 53 stores informationnecessary for realizing the navigation function such as the mapinformation 19 including information about linkages constituting roadson the map, traffic information, route information, and sectioninformation. In addition, the storage part 53 stores mail receptionnotification restriction information 600, screen information 700, andstatus information 800. In addition, the storage part 53 stores inadvance voice information of messages included in pop-up dialogs.

The mail reception notification restriction information 600 isinformation including a table defining whether or not to permit thedisplay of the pop-up dialog depending on a situation. FIG. 6 is adiagram illustrating an example of the mail reception notificationrestriction information 600. The mail reception notification restrictioninformation 600 defines whether or not to permit the display of thepop-up dialog in each of the cases of a “telephone communication stateof the navigation apparatus” 601 and a “screen category of thenavigation apparatus” 602.

Further, the mail reception notification restriction information 600illustrated in FIG. 6 defines not only the telephone communication stateand the screen category, in which the display of the pop-up dialog iscaused to wait, but also the telephone communication state and thescreen category, in which the display of the dialog is permitted.However, this is for describing this embodiment in an easy-to-understandmanner, and in reality it is sufficient to define only the telephonecommunication state and the screen category, in which the display of thepop-up dialog is caused to wait.

Specifically, in the mail reception notification restriction information600, there are registered predetermined telephone communication statesand screen categories, in which the display of the pop-up dialog ispermitted, and predetermined telephone communication states and screencategories, in which the display of the dialog is caused to wait, foreach of the “telephone communication state of the navigation apparatus”601 and the “screen category of the navigation apparatus” 602.

Specifically, the mail reception notification restriction information600 defines wait of the display of the pop-up dialog in the case wherethe navigation apparatus 100 is in a predetermined telephonecommunication state such as “during incoming call”, “during outgoingcall”, “during telephone communication”, or “during hold on”.

On the other hand, when the telephone communication state of thenavigation apparatus 100 is, for example, a telephone communicationstate (for example, “standby”) other than the predetermined telephonecommunication state registered to “wait”, the display of the pop-updialog is permitted.

In addition, the mail reception notification restriction information 600defines the wait of the display of the pop-up dialog in the case wherethe “screen category of the navigation apparatus” 602 is anyone of the“camera image screen”, a “telephone communication screen”, and the“enlarged intersection screen”.

In addition, when the screen category of the navigation apparatus 100 isany one of the “map screen”, the “audio screen”, and the “menu screen”,the display of the pop-up dialog is permitted.

The screen information 700 is information displayed on the display 17 ofthe navigation apparatus 100. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating anexample of the screen information 700. In addition, identificationinformation 701 for identifying the screen information 700 is added tothe screen information 700. The identification information 701 includesa screen ID 702, a screen name 703, and a screen category 704. Thescreen ID 702 is information for identifying the screen information 700.The screen name 703 is name information for specifying screeninformation (for example, menu μl and the like). The screen category 704is information for specifying a category, to which the screeninformation belongs. Examples of the screen category 704 include the“menu screen”, the “map screen”, the “audio screen”, the “telephonecommunication screen”, the “enlarged intersection screen”, and the like.Further, in the screen category 704, there is registered textinformation in common with the text information that can be defined ineach status of the mail reception notification restriction information600.

In this way, by classifying the screen information 700 in accordancewith types and functions thereof, it is possible to eliminate work fordefining all the screen information about whether the display of thepop-up dialog is permitted or is caused to wait, and hence efficiency ofdevelopment can be improved. Further, a plurality of pieces of screeninformation can be displayed on the display 17 using a plurality ofwindows. For instance, screen information belonging to the category ofthe map screen and screen information belonging to the enlargedintersection screen can be displayed simultaneously side by side.

The status information 800 is information indicating a current situationof the navigation apparatus 100. Specifically, the status information800 is information indicating a current telephone communication state ofthe navigation apparatus 100 and a screen category, to which the screeninformation of the current display belongs. FIG. 8 is a diagramillustrating an example of the status information 800. As illustrated inFIG. 8, the status information 800 includes information indicating acurrent situation for each of a “telephone communication state of thenavigation apparatus” 801 and a “screen category of the navigationapparatus” 802. Further, when the display 17 of the navigation apparatus100 displays a plurality of pieces of screen information, screencategories, to which individual pieces of screen information belong, areregistered in the screen category 802 of the navigation apparatus.Further, the status information 800 is updated by the status managementpart 57 at a predetermined timing. Update of the status information 800is described later.

FIG. 4 is referred to again for description. The BT connection part 54is a functional part for connecting in a communicable manner viaBluetooth to the external device succeeded in pairing. Specifically, theBT connection part 54 performs pairing with the portable terminal device200 so as to establish the short distance wireless communication 80 viaBluetooth. Further, after the short distance wireless communication 80is established between the navigation apparatus 100 and the portableterminal device 200, the portable terminal device 200 becomes capable oftransmitting mail information including a notification that electronicmail has been received and content of the e-mail (e-mail text) to thenavigation apparatus 100.

The transmission/reception part 55 is a functional part for transmittingand receiving predetermined information to and from the external deviceconnected in a communicable manner. Specifically, thetransmission/reception part 55 receives information indicating thetelephone communication state and the mail information from the portableterminal device 200. In addition, the transmission/reception part 55imparts the received mail information to the notification restrictiondetermination part 58 via the general control part 51.

The hands-free function part 56 is a functional part for realizinghands-free telephone communication in the vehicle. Specifically, thehands-free function part 56 receives voice information of a person onthe other end of the telephone communication from the portable terminaldevice 200 succeeded in pairing of Bluetooth and outputs the voiceinformation to the in-vehicle speaker 300. In addition, the hands-freefunction part 56 transmits voice information of a telephone communicator(for example, a driver or the like) acquired via the microphone 21 orthe like to the portable terminal device 200. In addition, thehands-free function part 56 acquires information indicating a telephonecommunication state of the portable terminal device 200 from a telephonecommunication control part 217 of the portable terminal device 200 at afixed interval (for example, every 0.1 seconds).

The status management part 57 is a functional part that manages thestatus information 800. Specifically, the status management part 57acquires information for specifying the screen category 704 of thenavigation apparatus 100 from the display control part 52 at apredetermined timing (for example, every 0.1 seconds).

In addition, the status management part 57 acquires informationindicating the telephone communication state of the navigation apparatus100 (“standby”, “during incoming call”, “during outgoing call”, “duringtelephone communication”, “during hold on”, and the like) from thehands-free function part 56 at a predetermined timing (for example,every 0.1 seconds).

In addition, the status management part 57 updates the statusinformation 800 based on the acquired information (information forspecifying the screen category 704 of the navigation apparatus 100 andinformation indicating the telephone communication state of thenavigation apparatus 100).

The notification restriction determination part 58 is a functional partfor determining whether or not to perform the display of the pop-updialog. Specifically, when the notification restriction determinationpart 58 acquires mail information from the portable terminal device 200,the notification restriction determination part 58 determines whether ornot to perform the reception notification of the electronic mail byusing the mail reception notification restriction information 600 andthe status information 800. In addition, the notification restrictiondetermination part 58 outputs a pop-up dialog display instruction forperforming reception notification of the electronic mail to the displaycontrol part 52 in accordance with a result of the determination.

The voice information generation part 59 is a functional part thatgenerates voice information used to read out content of the receivedelectronic mail with voice. Specifically, the voice informationgeneration part 59 acquires text content of the electronic mail includedin the mail information acquired from the portable terminal device 200and generates the voice information by using the text content. Inaddition, the voice information generation part 59 outputs the generatedvoice information to the in-vehicle speaker 300.

[Functional Block of Portable Terminal Device 200]

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a functional block of theportable terminal device 200. The portable terminal device 200 includesan input part 211, a display part 212, a storage part 213, a BTconnection part 214, a transmission/reception part 215, a mailmanagement part 216, and the telephone communication control part 217.

The input part 211 is a functional part that receives input instructionsfrom the user via the predetermined input device 23 of the portableterminal device 200 such as a touch panel or a numeric keypad.

The display part 212 is a functional part that displays predeterminedscreen information on the display of the portable terminal device 200.

The storage part 213 is a functional part for storing telephonedirectory information such as telephone numbers and mail addresses,image information, and the like.

The BT connection part 214 is a functional part that establishes theshort distance wireless communication 80 via Bluetooth with thenavigation apparatus 100 succeeded in pairing.

The transmission/reception part 215 is a functional part that transmitsinformation indicating the mail information and the informationindicating the telephone communication state to the navigation apparatus100. In addition, the transmission/reception part 215 transmits andreceives electronic mail to and from the mail server 400.

The mail management part 216 is a functional part that manageselectronic mail received via the transmission/reception part 215.Specifically, when electronic mail is received, the mail management part216 generates the mail information including information for notifyingthe reception and the mail text content, and imparts the mailinformation to the transmission/reception part 215.

The telephone communication control part 217 is a functional part thatcontrols telephone communication of the portable terminal device 200.Specifically, the telephone communication control part 217 controls thetelephone communication state (such as incoming call, outgoing call,telephone communication, and hold on) in accordance with a user'sinstruction received via the input part 211. In addition, the telephonecommunication control part 217 imparts the information indicating thetelephone communication state (such as “standby”, “during incomingcall”, “during outgoing call”, “during telephone communication”, and“during hold on”) to the hands-free function part of the navigationapparatus 100 at a fixed interval (for example, every 0.1 seconds).

The functional blocks of the navigation apparatus 100 and the portableterminal device 200 have been described.

Further, the individual functional parts of the navigation apparatus 100and the portable terminal device 200 are constructed by the CPUs mountedin these devices executing predetermined programs after reading theprograms. Therefore, programs for executing the processes of thefunctional parts (for example, application programs for constructingthis in-vehicle system 1000) are stored in the ROM 14 and the storagedevice 18 of the navigation apparatus 100 and the ROM 203 of theportable terminal device 200.

In addition, the functional parts are classified contents of mainprocesses to be executed by the CPU, in order to easily understandconfigurations of the navigation apparatus 100 and the portable terminaldevice 200 of this embodiment. Therefore, the classification method andthe names of the functional parts do not limit the present invention.The configurations of the navigation apparatus 100 and the portableterminal device 200 according to this embodiment can be classified intomore components depending on the contents of the processes. In addition,classification is also possible so that one component executes moreprocesses.

In addition, the functional parts may be constructed of hardware (ASICor the like). In addition, the process of the functional parts may beexecuted by a single hardware unit or by a plurality of hardware units.

In addition, the storage part 53 of the navigation apparatus 100 isrealized by at least one of the RAM 13, the ROM 14, and the storagedevice 18, or by a combination thereof.

In addition, the transmission/reception part 55 of the navigationapparatus 100 is realized by the BT module 33 and the communication part34.

In addition, the storage part 213 of the portable terminal device 200 isrealized by at least one of the RAM 202 and the ROM 203, or by acombination thereof.

In addition, the transmission/reception part 215 of the portableterminal device 200 is realized by the communication part 204 and the BTmodule 205.

[Description of Operation]

Next, the mail reception notification process to be executed by thenavigation apparatus 100 is described. FIG. 9 is a flowchartillustrating a flow of the mail reception notification process. Thisprocess is started when the navigation apparatus 100 is activated.

When the mail reception notification process is started, thenotification restriction determination part 58 monitors whether or notthe mail information has been acquired from the portable terminal device200 via the transmission/reception part 55 (Step S001). When the mailinformation is acquired (Yes in Step S001), the notification restrictiondetermination part 58 proceeds to status determination (Step S002).

In the status determination, the notification restriction determinationpart 58 compares the mail reception notification restriction information600 with the status information 800 stored in the storage part 53 so asto determine a status of the navigation apparatus 100 (Step S003, StepS004). Specifically, the notification restriction determination part 58compares the “telephone communication state of the navigation apparatus”801 of the status information 800 with the “telephone communicationstate of the navigation apparatus” 601 of the mail receptionnotification restriction information 600. Then, when the statuscorresponding to the “telephone communication state of the navigationapparatus” 801 of the status information 800 matches with the telephonecommunication state registered in wait 604 of the mail receptionnotification restriction information 600 (telephone communication statedefining the wait of the display of the pop-up dialog) (Yes in StepS003), the notification restriction determination part 58 repeatedlyexecutes the process of Step S003. In addition, the display control part52 continues to display the screen information as it is on the display17 during the process of Step S003 (Step S004).

On the other hand, when the status corresponding to the “telephonecommunication state of the navigation apparatus” 801 of the statusinformation 800 does not match with the telephone communication stateregistered in the wait 604 of the mail reception notificationrestriction information 600 (No in Step S003), the notificationrestriction determination part 58 proceeds to the process of Step S005.

In Step S005, the notification restriction determination part 58compares the “screen category of the navigation apparatus” 802 of thestatus information 800 with the “screen category of the navigationapparatus” 602 of the mail reception notification restrictioninformation 600. Then, when the status corresponding to the “screencategory of the navigation apparatus” 802 of the status information 800includes the screen category registered in the wait 604 of the mailreception notification restriction information 600 (screen categorydefining the wait of the display of the pop-up dialog) (Yes in StepS005), the notification restriction determination part 58 returns to theprocess of Step S003. In addition, the display control part 52 continuesto display the screen information as it is on the display 17 until theprocess of Step S005 is finished (Step S006).

On the other hand, when the status corresponding to the “screen categoryof the navigation apparatus” 802 of the status information 800 does notincludes any screen category registered in the wait 604 of the mailreception notification restriction information 600 (No in Step S005),the notification restriction determination part 58 proceeds to theprocess of Step S007.

Further, there is a case where the screen information belonging to thescreen category defining the permission of the display of the pop-updialog and the screen information belonging to the screen categorydefining the wait of the display of the dialog are simultaneouslydisplayed on the display 17 of the navigation apparatus 100 (forexample, the screen information whose screen category belongs to the mapscreen and the screen information whose screen category belongs to theenlarged intersection screen). In this case, the display of the pop-updialog is caused to wait.

In Step S007, the display control part 52 displays the pop-up dialog fornotifying that mail has been received on the display 17. Specifically,the display control part 52 displays the pop-up dialog, which includes amessage notifying that the portable terminal device 200 (or thenavigation apparatus 100) has received electronic mail, for receivingfrom the user an instruction of whether or not to read out the text ofthis electronic mail on the display 17 so as to be superimposed on thedisplayed screen information. Further, the general control part 51acquires the voice information of the message included in the dialogfrom the storage part 53 and outputs the voice information to thein-vehicle speaker 300.

Next, the general control part 51 determines whether or not the read outinstruction of the e-mail text is acquired (Step S008). Specifically,the general control part 51 determines whether or not an “Yes” icon outof instruction buttons (icons indicating “Yes” and “No”) in the pop-updialog is pressed via the touch panel 26.

Then, when the “Yes” icon is pressed (Yes in Step S008), the generalcontrol part 51 outputs an instruction to generate the voice informationof the e-mail text content included in the mail information to the voiceinformation generation part 59. On the other hand, when the “No” icon ispressed (No in Step S008), the general control part 51 deletes thedisplay of the pop-up dialog (Step S010) and finishes the process ofthis flow.

When acquiring from the general control part 51 the instruction togenerate the voice information, the voice information generation part 59generates the voice information of the e-mail text (Step S011), outputsthe voice information to the in-vehicle speaker 300 (Step S008), andfinishes the process of this flow.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of screen transition of thenavigation apparatus 100 when the mail reception notification process isexecuted. FIG. 10 is a diagram, in which the case where the pop-updialog is displayed without waiting (screen transition of “duringdisplay of the map screen” 911) is compared with the case where thedisplay of the pop-up dialog is temporarily caused to wait and then isdisplayed (phase transition of “during display of the telephonecommunication screen” 912) on the time series when the portable terminaldevice 200 has received electronic mail. Further, it is supposed thatthe status information 800 indicating the telephone communication stateof the portable terminal device 200 is “standby” in the screentransition of the “during display of the map screen” 911.

[Phase 1]

In the “during display of the map screen” 911, the map screen isdisplayed on the display 17 of the navigation apparatus 100. On theother hand, in the “during display of the telephone communicationscreen” 912, the screen information during telephone communicationincluded in the telephone communication screen category is displayed onthe display 17. Further, it is supposed that, for example, the mapinformation 19 included in the screen category 704 of the map screen wasdisplayed before the screen information during telephone communicationis displayed.

In Phase 1, the notification restriction determination part 58 monitorswhether or not the mail information has been acquired (Step S001).

[Phase 2]

When receiving the mail information from the portable terminal device200, the navigation apparatus 100 changes the screen from Phase 1 toPhase 2. In the case of the “during display of the map screen” 911, the“telephone communication state of the navigation apparatus” 801 of thestatus information 800 is “standby”, and the “screen category of thenavigation apparatus” 801 of the status information 800 is “map screen”.In other words, in the mail reception notification restrictioninformation 600, the “standby” and the “map screen” are the telephonecommunication state and the screen category, in which the display of thepop-up dialog is permitted (No in Step S003, No in Step S005).

Therefore, the notification restriction determination part 58superimposes and displays on the map screen a pop-up dialog 901including an “Yes” icon and a “No” icon for receiving an instruction ofwhether or not to read out the electronic mail text together with apredetermined message such as “E-mail has been received” (Step S007).Further, when the “Yes” icon or the “No” icon is pressed, a screenexample of Phase 3 appears.

On the other hand, in the case of the “during display of the telephonecommunication screen” 912, the “telephone communication state of thenavigation apparatus” 801 of the status information 800 is “duringtelephone communication”, which corresponds to the telephonecommunication state defining the wait of the display of the pop-updialog in the mail reception notification restriction information 600(Yes in Step S003).

Therefore, the notification restriction determination part 58 does notproceed to the process for performing the display of the pop-up dialog(repeats Step S003 and Step S004). In other words, the notificationrestriction determination part 58 executes the wait of the display ofthe pop-up dialog. In addition, the display control part 52 continues todisplay the screen information (screen during telephone communication)as it is.

Further, when the “telephone communication state of the navigationapparatus” 801 and the “screen category of the navigation apparatus” 802become those that permit the display of the pop-up dialog, the screenexample of Phase 3 is displayed on the display (Step S007).

Specifically, when the telephone communication of the portable terminaldevice 200 (or of the navigation apparatus 100) is finished, the status804 of the status information 800 is changed from the “during telephonecommunication” to the “standby”. In this case, the screen indicatingduring telephone communication displayed on the display 17 is returnedto the map information 19 that was displayed before that. In otherwords, the “screen category of the navigation apparatus” 802 of thestatus information 800 is changed to the “map screen”. In this way, whenthe telephone communication is finished, the display of the pop-updialog is permitted in both the “telephone communication state of thenavigation apparatus” 801 and the “screen category of the navigationapparatus” 802 (No in Step S003, No in Step S005). Therefore, thedisplay control part 52 executes control to display the pop-up dialogfor notifying that electronic mail has been received (Step S007).

[Phase 3]

In the case of the “during display of the map screen” 911, when the“Yes” icon is pressed in Phase 2 (Yes in Step S008), the display controlpart 52 displays a screen example 903 showing the e-mail text on thedisplay 17. On the other hand, when the “No” icon is pressed (No in StepS008), the display control part 52 deletes the display of the pop-updialog 901 (Step S010) and displays the screen before the pop-up dialog901 is displayed, namely the map screen.

In the case of the “during display of the telephone communicationscreen” 912, a pop-up dialog 902 including an “Yes” icon and a “No” iconfor receiving an instruction of whether or not to read out theelectronic mail text is displayed on the map screen together with amessage such as “E-mail has been received” (Step S007). Further,transition from Phase 3 to Phase 4 is the same as that in the case ofthe “during display of the map screen” 911, and hence descriptionthereof is omitted.

Further, in Phase 2 of the “during display of the telephonecommunication screen” 912, even in the case where the user displays themap screen on the display 17 while maintaining the telephonecommunication state by a predetermined operation, the pop-up dialog 902for notifying that electronic mail has been received is not displayed.This is because, when the map screen is displayed, the “screen categoryof the navigation apparatus” 802 of the status information 800 ischanged to the “map screen”, but the “telephone communication state ofthe navigation apparatus” 801 remains to correspond to the “duringtelephone communication”.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating another example of screen transitionof the navigation apparatus 100 when the mail reception notificationprocess is executed. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a screentransition of “during display of the enlarged intersection screen” 921and “during display of the camera image screen” 922, which are displayedafter the display of the pop-up dialog is temporarily caused to wait, onthe time series when the portable terminal device 200 has receivedelectronic mail. Further, it is supposed that, during display of any ofthe screens, the telephone communication state of the portable terminaldevice 200 is “standby” in the screen transition.

[Phase 1]

In the “during display of the enlarged intersection screen” 921, thescreen of the enlarged intersection is displayed on the display 17 ofthe navigation apparatus 100. In addition, in the “during display of thecamera image screen” 922, the camera image screen taken by thein-vehicle camera (for example, an in-vehicle camera mounted to aposition capable of taking a rear view image of the vehicle) isdisplayed. Further, it is supposed that, for example, the mapinformation 19 included in the screen category 704 of the map screen wasdisplayed before the enlarged intersection screen and the camera imagescreen are displayed.

In Phase 1, the notification restriction determination part 58 monitorswhether or not the mail information has been acquired (Step S001).

[Phase 2]

When receiving the mail information from the portable terminal device200, the navigation apparatus 100 changes the screen from Phase 1 toPhase 2. In the case of the “during display of the enlarged intersectionscreen” 921, the “screen category of the navigation apparatus” 802 ofthe status information 800 is the “enlarged intersection screen”, whichcorresponds to the screen category defining the wait of the display ofthe pop-up dialog in the mail reception notification restrictioninformation 600 (Yes in Step S005).

In addition, in the case of the “during display of the camera imagescreen” 922, the “screen category of the navigation apparatus” 802 ofthe status information 800 is the “camera image screen”, and hencecorresponds to the screen category defining the wait of the display ofthe pop-up dialog (Yes in Step S005).

In other words, each of the both screen information in the displaybelongs to the screen category defining the wait of the display of thepop-up dialog, and hence does not proceed to the process for performingthe display of the dialog (repeats Steps S003, S005, and S006). In otherwords, the notification restriction determination part 58 executes thewait of the display of the pop-up dialog.

Further, when the “telephone communication state of the navigationapparatus” 801 and the “screen category of the navigation apparatus” 802become those that permit the display of the pop-up dialog in the mailreception notification restriction information 600, the screen exampleof Phase 3 is displayed on the display 17.

Specifically, in the “during display of the enlarged intersectionscreen” 921, when the vehicle runs a predetermined distance (forexample, 5 m) after the vehicle passes the intersection, the map screenthat was displayed before the display of the enlarged intersectionscreen is displayed on the display 17. In this case, a status 805indicating the “screen category of the navigation apparatus” 802 of thestatus information 800 is changed from the “enlarged intersectionscreen” to the “map screen”. In this way, after the vehicle passes theintersection, the “telephone communication state of the navigationapparatus” 801 (“standby”) and the “screen category of the navigationapparatus” 802 are those, in which the display of the pop-up dialog ispermitted in the mail reception notification restriction information 600(No in Step S003, No in Step S005). Therefore, the display control part52 executes control to superimpose and display a pop-up dialog 931 fornotifying that electronic mail has been received on the screeninformation (Step S007).

In addition, in the case of the “during display of the camera imagescreen” 922, when a gear position of the vehicle is changed from rear(R) to another gear position such as drive (D), for example, the mapscreen that was displayed before the display of the camera image screenis displayed on the display 17. In this case, the “screen category ofthe navigation apparatus” 802 of the status information 800 is changedfrom the “camera image screen” to the “map screen”. In this way, whenthe gear position is changed, both the “telephone communication state ofthe navigation apparatus” 801 (“standby”) and the “screen category ofthe navigation apparatus” 802 become those, in which the display of thepop-up dialog is permitted in the mail reception notificationrestriction information 600 (No in Step S003, No in Step S005).Therefore, the display control part 52 executes control to superimposeand display a pop-up dialog 932 for notifying that electronic mail hasbeen received on the screen information (Step S007).

Further, Phase 3 and Phase 4 are the same as Phase 3 and Phase 4 of the“during display of the telephone communication screen” 912, and hencedescription thereof is omitted.

As described above, according to the navigation apparatus 100 of thisembodiment, it is possible to notify at more appropriate timing thatelectronic mail has been received. In particular, when the portableterminal device 200 is in a predetermined telephone communication statesuch as during telephone communication, or when the navigation apparatus100 displays screen information such as the enlarged intersection screenor the camera image screen, it is considered that priority for the userto know that the electronic mail has been received is low. Therefore,the navigation apparatus 100 of this embodiment notifies the user thatelectronic mail has been received after waiting for becoming anappropriate situation for the user to know that electronic mail has beenreceived.

In particular, the case of during telephone communication to/from theportable terminal device 200 is considered to be used in more urgentsituation than e-mail. In addition, it is considered that the in-vehiclespeaker 300 may be occupied by the hands-free function to causesituations that the message notifying that electronic mail has beenreceived cannot be read out, or that it becomes hard to hear telephonecommunication when the message is read out. Therefore, in this case, thereception notification of electronic mail is caused to wait, and afterthe telephone communication or the like is finished, the receptionnotification is performed so that the notification can be performed atan appropriate timing.

In addition, when the user intends to turn at the intersection, thepriority to know that electronic mail has been received is lower thanthe priority to know the direction to turn at the intersection. Inaddition, it is conceivable to display the screen information fornotifying the user of the direction to travel at the intersection andthe screen information for notifying the user that electronic mail hasbeen received simultaneously side by side. However, because a space ofdisplay on the display 17 is limited, there is a problem in that thedisplay becomes difficult for the user to see. Further, the enlargedintersection screen appears and disappears along with movement of thevehicle, and in order to display the screen for notifying the user thatelectronic mail has been received together with the enlargedintersection screen, various pieces of screen information are displayedin short period of time, which may provide the user with complicatedimpression. Therefore, in this embodiment, during the display of theenlarged intersection screen, the pop-up dialog for notifying thatelectronic mail has been received is not displayed. At a timing afterthe vehicle passes the intersection so that the display of the enlargedintersection screen becomes unnecessary, the pop-up dialog is displayed.Thus, it is possible to notify the user at an appropriate timing thatelectronic mail has been received.

In addition, when the camera image screen is displayed, there isconsidered, for example, a case where parking operation such as parkingthe vehicle into the garage is performed while viewing the camera imagescreen. In this case, it is considered that the priority of displayingthe camera image screen is higher than the priority of displaying theinformation for notifying that e-mail has been received. In addition, itis conceivable to display the camera image screen and the screeninformation for notifying the user that electronic mail has beenreceived simultaneously side by side. However, because a space ofdisplay on the display 17 is limited, there is a problem in that thedisplay becomes difficult for the user to see. Therefore, in thisembodiment, during the display of the camera image screen, the pop-updialog for notifying that electronic mail has been received is notdisplayed. At a timing when the display of the camera image screenbecomes unnecessary, the pop-up dialog is displayed. Thus, it ispossible to notify the user at an appropriate timing that electronicmail has been received.

In addition, instead of simply omitting the notification that electronicmail has been received, the notification is performed afterward when asituation with higher priority is finished. Therefore, it is possible toprevent a situation that the user does not notice arrival of electronicmail. In addition, for example, the user can know that electronic mailhas been received when a driving load is relatively small, and canperform the operation for instructing to readout the electronic mail. Inaddition, only by a simple operation, the text of the receivedelectronic mail is read out so that convenience for the user can beimproved.

The first embodiment of the present invention has been described.

Further, in the embodiment described above, the display of the pop-updialog for notifying that electronic mail has been received is caused towait in the case where the screen category of the navigation apparatus100 belongs to the “camera image screen” 922, the “enlarged intersectionscreen” 921, or the “telephone communication screen” 912. However, thepresent invention is not limited to this case. For instance, it ispossible to execute the wait of the display of the dialog when a “VICSinformation screen” or a “voice recognition receiving screen” isdisplayed when electronic mail has been received. It is because thesedisplay screens are also considered to have higher priority than thereception notification of electronic mail.

In addition, for example, it is possible to execute the wait of thedisplay of the dialog when predetermined screen information displayedtogether with voice guidance (for example, a branch or a junction of amotorway) is displayed. It is because the screen information displayedtogether with voice guidance usually displays a place, at which carefuldriving is required, and this display screen is also considered to havehigher priority than the reception notification of electronic mail.

Further, the “VICS information screen” is a screen category of thescreen displaying VICS information received by the beacon receptiondevice 32. In addition, the voice recognition is a voice recognitionfunction that is realized by a predetermined voice analysis processbased on voice information of the user acquired from the microphone 21of the navigation apparatus 100, and the “voice recognition receivingscreen” is a screen category of a screen displayed when the voicerecognition function is executed.

In addition, in the embodiment described above, it is supposed that thetelephone communication is performed using the microphone 21 of thenavigation apparatus 100 by using the hands-free function. However, whenthe portable terminal device 200 and the navigation apparatus 100 areconnected to each other in a communicable manner via Bluetooth, it ispossible to adopt the telephone communication using the microphone 206of the portable terminal device 200. Also in this case, the navigationapparatus 100 can acquire a status indicating the telephonecommunication state from the portable terminal device 200, and hence thestatus information 800 can be updated.

In addition, the navigation apparatus 100 itself may have the telephonecommunication function.

In this case, the general control part 51 detects the telephonecommunication state of the navigation apparatus 100. Then, the statusmanagement part 57 acquires the status indicating the telephonecommunication state from the general control part 51 at predeterminedtiming (for example, every 0.1 seconds) so as to update the statusinformation 800. Similarly to the embodiment described above, thenotification restriction determination part 58 determines whether or notto notify that electronic mail has been received by using the statusinformation 800 and the mail reception notification restrictioninformation 600.

In this case, for example, even when the portable terminal device 200receives electronic mail when emergency telephone is used by thetelephone communication function of the navigation apparatus 100, thedisplay of the pop-up dialog for notifying the reception and output ofthe voice information to be output from the in-vehicle speaker 300together with the display of the pop-up dialog can be waited. When theemergency telephone is used, it is considered that urgency and priorityare very high. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the receptionnotification of electronic mail from being performed in this situation.

In addition, in the embodiment described above, the display of thedialog is deleted when the icon for receiving the instruction of readout of the e-mail text (the “Yes” icon or the “No” icon) is pressed.However, it is possible to delete the display of the dialog after apredetermined period of time (for example, 20 seconds) elapses from thedisplay. Specifically, when the instruction concerning the read out ofe-mail text is not received even after 20 seconds has elapsed from thedisplay of the pop-up dialog, the general control part 51 deletes thedisplay of the dialog.

In this way, it is possible to eliminate the user's effort to press the“No” icon when the user does not want read out of the text, and it ispossible to provide information in accordance with a situation where theuser is placed.

In addition, in the embodiment described above, the navigation apparatus100 performs wireless communication via Bluetooth with the portableterminal device 200, but the present invention is not limited to this.For instance, the navigation apparatus 100 is possible to perform wiredcommunication to/from the portable terminal device 200 with a universalserial bus (USB) cable or the like.

In addition, in the embodiment described above, the mail receptionnotification restriction information 600 defines both the telephonecommunication state as well as the screen category, in which the displayof the pop-up dialog is permitted, and the telephone communication stateas well as the screen category, in which the display of the dialog iscaused to wait, but the present invention is not limited to this. Forinstance, the mail reception notification restriction information 600 ispossible to define only one of the telephone communication state as wellas the screen category, in which the display of the pop-up dialog ispermitted, and the telephone communication state and the screencategory, in which the display of the dialog is caused to wait. Bydefining only one of them, it is possible to improve developmentefficiency compared with the case where both of them are defined.

In addition, in the embodiment described above, the small window pop-updialog is superimposed and displayed on the map screen or the like inorder to notify the user that the electronic mail has been received, butthe present invention is not limited to this. For instance, it ispossible to display the screen information indicating that electronicmail has been received instead of the screen information such as the mapscreen.

In addition, in the embodiment described above, the voice informationgeneration part 59 outputs the generated voice information to thein-vehicle speaker 300. However, instead of this or in addition to this,the voice information generation part 59 may output the generated voiceinformation to the speaker 22.

In addition, in the embodiment described above, the present invention isapplied to the navigation apparatus 100 having the so-called navigationfunction. However, it is possible to apply the present invention to asmart phone, a display car audio, or other information display apparatuswithout the navigation function. In addition, in the embodimentdescribed above, the present invention is applied to the navigationapparatus 100 including the display 17 as an example of the displayapparatus. Instead, however, it is possible to apply the presentinvention to an information output device configured to output a signalto a separate display apparatus.

Further, the present invention is not limited to the embodiment andvariations described above, and includes various other embodiments andvariations. For instance, the embodiment is described above in detailfor describing the present invention in an easily understood manner, andthe present invention is not necessarily limited to one including allthe described configurations. In addition, apart of the configuration ofa certain embodiment can be replaced by a part of the configuration ofanother embodiment or variation. It is also possible to add aconfiguration of a certain embodiment to a configuration of anotherembodiment. In addition, concerning a part of the configuration of eachembodiment, it is possible to add, eliminate, or replace with anotherconfiguration.

In addition, a part or a whole of each configuration, function, processpart, and process means may be realized by a program for a processor torealize each function. Information such as programs, tables, and filesfor realizing each function can be stored in a storage device such as amemory, a hard disk, or a solid state drive (SSD), or in a recordingmedium such as an IC card, a secure digital (SD) memory card, or adigital versatile disk (DVD). Further, control lines and informationlines that are considered to be necessary for description areillustrated, and all the control lines and information lines needed forproducts are not necessarily illustrated.

What is claimed is:
 1. An information display apparatus, comprising: aninformation display part, which displays various information; and acommunication part, which performs one of wireless communication andwired communication to/from a portable terminal device, wherein theinformation display part is configured to: display screen informationfor notifying a user that electronic mail has been received when theportable terminal device has received the electronic mail while firstscreen information is displayed, one of in addition to the first screeninformation and instead of the first screen information; and continue todisplay second screen information when the portable terminal device hasreceived the electronic mail while the second screen information isdisplayed, without displaying the screen information for notifying theuser that the electronic mail has been received, and display the screeninformation for notifying the user that the electronic mail has beenreceived after display of the second screen information is finished. 2.An information display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein thecommunication part is capable of performing voice communication to/froman external device via the portable terminal device, and wherein thesecond screen information indicates information about the voicecommunication.
 3. An information display apparatus according to claim 1,further comprising an image reception part, which receives an imagesignal of an image around a vehicle, wherein the second screeninformation indicates information about the image around the vehicle. 4.An information display apparatus according to claim 1, furthercomprising: a destination specifying part, which specifies adestination; a route specifying part, which specifies a recommendedroute to the destination specified by the destination specifying part;and a guide determination part, which determines whether or not acurrent position requires guidance based on the recommended routespecified by the route specifying part, wherein the information displaypart displays guide screen information based on the recommended routespecified by the route specifying part when the current positionrequires the guidance, and wherein the second screen informationcomprises the guide screen information.
 5. An information displayapparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: an operationreception part, which receives a user's operation; a voice informationgeneration part, which generates voice information from text of theelectronic mail received by the portable terminal device; and a voiceoutput part, which outputs to a speaker the voice information generatedby the voice information generation part when the operation receptionpart receives a predetermined operation.
 6. An information displayapparatus according to claim 1, wherein, when a predetermined periodelapses from display of the screen information for notifying the userthat the electronic mail has been received, the display of the screeninformation is finished.
 7. An information display method, comprising:displaying various information; performing one of wireless communicationand wired communication to/from a portable terminal device; displayingscreen information for notifying a user that electronic mail has beenreceived when the portable terminal device has received the electronicmail while first screen information is displayed, one of in addition tothe first screen information and instead of the first screeninformation; and continuing to display second screen information whenthe portable terminal device has received the electronic mail while thesecond screen information is displayed, without displaying the screeninformation for notifying the user that the electronic mail has beenreceived, and displaying the screen information for notifying the userthat the electronic mail has been received after display of the secondscreen information is finished.
 8. An information display methodaccording to claim 7, further comprising performing voice communicationto/from an external device via the portable terminal device, wherein thesecond screen information indicates information about the voicecommunication.
 9. An information display method according to claim 7,further comprising receiving an image signal of an image around avehicle, wherein the second screen information indicates informationabout the image around the vehicle.
 10. An information display methodaccording to claim 7, further comprising: specifying a destination;specifying a recommended route to the specified destination; determiningwhether or not a current position requires guidance based on thespecified recommended route; and displaying guide screen informationbased on the specified recommended route when the current positionrequires the guidance, wherein the second screen information includesthe guide screen information.
 11. An information display methodaccording to claim 7, further comprising: receiving a user's operation;generating voice information from text of the electronic mail receivedby the portable terminal device; and outputting to a speaker thegenerated voice information when receiving a predetermined operation.12. An information display method according to claim 7, furthercomprising finishing the display of the screen information when apredetermined period elapses from display of the screen information fornotifying the user that the electronic mail has been received.